• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Four Years Later: Remembering Flight 587 Victims

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Nov 12, 2005 10:23 pm US/Eastern

Four Years Later: Remembering Flight 587 Victims

Mayor, Families, Turn Out For Anniversary Of Deadly Crash

by Magee Hickey
NEW YORK (AP) ― Scores of families gathered in a seaside neighborhood in Queens on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of one of the deadliest airline disasters in U.S. history.

The crash of American Airlines Flight 587 on a quiet residential block in Belle Harbor claimed 265 victims in a city still reeling from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Today, few physical reminders of the wreck remain, but New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the hundreds gathered on a chilly morning that the city hopes to pick a design soon for a $2 million memorial to the victims.

"For many people in this city, our grief remains so strong. Because passage of those four years has not filled those 265 empty chairs at the dinner table, or the 265 empty spots in our hearts," he said.

Flight 587 had just taken off from John F. Kennedy International Airport on Nov. 12, 2001, when a section of its tail tore away as the plane's pilot battled turbulence. The jet was bound for the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican national anthem was played at the start of Saturday's ceremony. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani eulogized the dead, which included five people killed on the ground. Mourners also observed a moment of silence and the names of every crash victim were read aloud.

"It feels like yesterday," said Juan Reyes, 19, of the Bronx, who lost his father in the crash. "It happened four years ago, but it seems like four minutes ago."

He called his father his best friend, and said he hoped to be able to bring his children to the neighborhood 20 years from now and be able to tell them, "My father died here."

The city has encountered some delays in the construction of a permanent memorial, but officials still hope to have a monument in place by the autumn of 2006.

Outside of the 2001 terrorist attacks, the crash was the second worst in U.S. aviation history. The deadliest was a 1979 disaster at Chicago's O'Hare Airport that killed 275.


(© 2005 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Top Stories

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.